I had got my Polaroid DRM-2001G - was working fine; then replaced the 80 GB HDD with a 250 GB HDD (as explained in this forum). Everything was working fine for 6 months.

Then suddenly last night, it completely stopped working; tried plugging out and plugging back in. Even the front panel lights are not lighting up (indicating power on etc). When I plug it in, I can feel that the HDD inside is rotating and fan seems to be working, but nothing else.

One last thing which I have not tried is replacing the HDD with the original one (or a new one).

Is the DVD player dead ? Or is it just a HDD failure and it does not even boot up for other functionality (like watching DVD) because of HDD failure?

Anyone with similar experiences? Any tips?

Thanks & regards,
-CrazyToes

Always go with the simplest explanation first. Whatever you did probably caused the problem, so here, it is the replaced HD, so put the original back in.

If it still does not work, look in the area you worked for any loose wires or damage you may have caused and repair it.

You are in danger, working on powered on equipment, since you can easily electrocute yourself if you have not worked with electronics, so my suggestion, at this point, is to forget it and buy another machine. If you have worked on them before and know what you are doing, including safe procedures, then-

If it still does not work, check voltages out of the power supply and repair it if faulty.

If it still does not work, and you have power to some parts of the unit but not others, then you are into circuit tracing to find the bad component. For that you need a circuit diagram or a very good understanding of electrical circuits and components (resistors, diodes, chips, etc.) so you can trace voltage and see where the problem might be. This is something that those who grew up with Heathkits love to do, but it is dangerous, even if you know what you are doing. Like a TV CRT high voltage widow maker circuit. Arc can leap from here to China. If you do not know what you are looking at, forget it.

Thanks beekeeper - i replaced with original HDD and it still does not power up.

I am thinking of giving it up at this point.

Is it worth trying to fix this in a local store - they may charge upto 50-60$ I think.

Usually it is about that just to bring it through the door. Most electronic gadgets below $2-300 are in the marginal range to repair, since you can get a newer, more featured one for nearly the amount you pay to fix the old one.

You can ask a repair store, especially the question "If it is not reparable, what are the charges?" I think that will answer your question.